When an elongate substrate such as a coaxial or telephone or electrical cable is spliced or otherwise entered through its outer protected sheathing, it is necessary to protect the cable splice or the exposed interior conductors. More specifically, when a coaxial cable is spliced, both the exposed interior of the cable and the splice must be protected to permit a high quality signal to be transmitted across the splice. The fine wires of the telecommunications cable or the signal carrying conductor of the coaxial cable degrades when exposed to the harsh environments of the atmosphere or the buried earthen environment.
Within the past several years, gel materials such as silicone gels, polyurethane gels, polyurea gels, thermoplastic gels such as Kraton.RTM. polymers and extender oils, and the like have been used to seal elongate substrates. These gels most effectively seal for reentry when the elongate substrate is sealed under compression and not potted around the substrate to be sealed. More specifically, the gel is generally cured apart from at least a portion of the substrate and thereafter brought into contact with the complete substrate and the gel placed under compression to seal the complete substrate. Suitable example gels and enclosures are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,610,738; 4,909,756; 4,859,809; 4,600,261; 4,634,207; 4,942,270; and 4,998,894. The complete disclosures of each of these patents is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Each of these patents proposes a sealing solution for various substrates. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,809 illustrates a spring-loaded enclosure to seal splices such as, inter alia, telephone cables. In practice, however, the springs may be somewhat difficult to install and remove and the enclosure may in the hermaphroditic embodiment tended to skate, i.e., move sideways relative to the halves, until the springs were installed. Thus, it would be highly desirable to have a hermaphroditic enclosure to minimize the number of parts while avoiding the difficulty of removing the springs as well as the tendencies of the enclosure to move along a horizontal axis which is substantially perpendicular to the elongate substrate axis prior to the connection of the springs.